I have lost my default set of search engines ie Yahoo in the search bar all I have are Food IMdB and SiteAdvisor (ver 18.0.2)

I had my windows crash but was able to restore it with the builtin software. One of the problems I was left with was that all my default search engines in the search bar were replaced with just three (none of which I had previous) Food, IMdB, and SiteAdvisor. When I checked your forum there was a question similiar to mine but I was unable to understand the answer. I have already upgraded from FF 16.something to 18.0.2 hoping this would solve the problem but it didn't. I don't want to uninstall and reinstall as I am afraid I will loose all my bookmarks etc. I can do my searches from the Google and Yahoo web pages but the search bar was far more convient. Thanks for any help

I had my windows crash but was able to restore it with the builtin software. One of the problems I was left with was that all my default search engines in the search bar were replaced with just three (none of which I had previous) Food, IMdB, and SiteAdvisor. When I checked your forum there was a question similiar to mine but I was unable to understand the answer. I have already upgraded from FF 16.something to 18.0.2 hoping this would solve the problem but it didn't. I don't want to uninstall and reinstall as I am afraid I will loose all my bookmarks etc. I can do my searches from the Google and Yahoo web pages but the search bar was far more convient. Thanks for any help

Chosen solution

Do you still see the xml files of all the search engines in the searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder?

(32 bit Windows) C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\

(64 bit Windows) C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\

If the default search engines are missing there then you need to reinstall Firefox.

You can try to delete the search.json file and a possible search.sqlite file in the Firefox Profile Folder.

Do you still see the xml files of all the search engines in the searchplugins folder in the Firefox program folder?
*(32 bit Windows) C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\
*(64 bit Windows) C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\
If the default search engines are missing there then you need to reinstall Firefox.
You can try to delete the search.json file and a possible search.sqlite file in the Firefox Profile Folder.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Firefox
You can use this button to go to the Firefox profile folder:
*Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder